The Lord has a heart to heart with the Jews that chose Egypt. (again)
We serve a patient and loving Father. He does not act indiscriminately and He does not act in malice, as we see the gods do in Greek myths.
He is a teacher, a coach, a Father.
And even if those being taught the lesson don't learn; those of us reading can learn.
He repeatedly tells His people the stories of their past—generations past who can testify to God's goodness. Even though they rarely seem to listen; He reminds them. And Cane. Remember the very personal exchange the Lord has, encouraging Cane to take responsibility for his choices and rule over the sin trying to master him. Even though Cane didn't listen...
And now, with this small remnant ready to flee to Egypt, despite being given clear guidance and warning from the Lord, He has only to reflect back not generations but mere weeks or months to all of the cities of Judah to show them the folly of chasing idols and trusting in horses and chariots. Even though they aren't going to listen.
That's how we can know what "Hallowed be Thy Name" really means. No human could continue in patience the way God does with His people. It is literally a super-human ability.
In verses 1-6, the Lord, speaking through Jeremiah, reminds he remnant that He just poured out His wrath on them after a very long season of attempting to coach them out of idolatry.
Here's His follow-up questions directly to them after the recent recap:
“Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none to remain... Jeremiah 44:7
He goes on to specifically describe their sins and the sins of their wives and makes it clear their continuing choices will result in the entire remnant—man, woman, child, and infant—being cut off from Judah forever. He makes it very clear that their ongoing idolatry and choice to trust in Egypt will result in the sword, famine, and pestilence—just as it did for their fathers.
No remnant.
No refugees. (except a few to return-because God always offers hope.)
So, starting in verse 15, all of the remnant gathered in Egypt come together and respond with repentance.
Just kidding. They scornfully respond that they will not listen. It even specifies that they knew their wives had been sacrificing to idols and they still failed to even address that.
Oh my! Verses 17-18 are a doozy. You'll assume I am exaggerating if I summarize. Here it is verbatim:
But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. 18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine
Yikes!
All of those years of patience and provision have been given in account to a demon; not glory to God.
How often do we do this. Take our sin and the benefits that appeared along with the sin and assume causation? When the Word actually tells us that ALL good and perfect gifts come down from heaven. NEVER, NEVER assume that any prospering that occurred while sinning is attributed to the sin. That's all grace and patience while the Lord gives you time to repent.
I just cannot fathom that depth of arrogance and defiance. I'm sure I've displayed it; but when seen from the outside- it's oh so painful and cringe.
In verse 19 the women pile on and seem to sarcastically ask if their husbands were their for all of this sacrificing and worship to the queen of heaven. Helpful.
Before we hear Jeremiah's reply to all of this, just a couple of word-nerd things:
- "queen of heaven" is how modern Catholics refer to Jesus' earthly mother, Mary. And then they try to explain that she's not an idol. So that really struck me here.
- "Egypt" is almost always used as a symbol of the world. So, just in case you think you would have stayed in Judah and trusted the Lord (because sometimes we do the right thing, guided by the Spirit), there is a chance that you just are not fully considering some of the worldly things we rely on when times get tough. Do you drink when you're sad? Binge Netflix when you're bored? Smoke weed when you're stressed? Binge eat when you're sad, bored, stressed, or it's a day that ends in "y"? (That last one was me.) Those are all created things in the world that we run to, instead of standing our ground in the chaos of Judah along with the promise of provision and protection from the Lord. [Something to think about.]
So, Jeremiah replies to their rank stupidity. Hey, dummies...I'm glad you brought up all of that idol worship you look back on so fondly. Let's check in on the generations that were doing that? How's it going in Jerusalem right now? Yes, Jerusalem is in utter ruins. Smoldering and uninhabited. An object of horror and a curse. This was because God got tired of the idol worship and now He is out of patience for all of the nonsense. [paraphrase.] 🙂
He goes on to encourage them to commit to their plan of idol worship with a vow. Go all in because the Lord no longer seeks their good; but their harm. [terrifying] He confirms that He's wiping the Jews in Egypt off of the map, except for a very small number who will return. [always hope] Then Jeremiah encourages them to check back later and see whose vow won- was it theirs or the Lord's who prevailed.
And then it ends on an even more somber note, even though that seems impossible. He tells them that because of their sin, the lord has decided to deliver the Pharaoh into the hands of Babylon.
There is a saying at my work that"ideas of consequences and bad ideas have victims." We rarely just hurt ourselves when we sin. In some form or fashion, others get swept up in it. in this case, the entire nation of Egypt had held off Babylon, except for skirmishes. And now an entire nation would pay for the selfish sinful women who decided they were gonna call on their girl-boss god to save them. Their husbands went along with this bad theology and the whole congregation, along with their host nation will suffer.
Sadly, and I really really hate to admit this, this is why Paul prohibited women from preaching and teaching the men in the church. We (women) can get caught up in strong feelings and miss the guidance has for us. And we take victims with us with our bad ideas.
Provision and protection (all provision and protection) are sourced from the Lord. All good gifts come from Him. If we ever find a short cut and some magic beans that give us what we want apart from the Lord...it's not going to end well. That's the history we should remember and take to heart.